Scarecrow's Return
by superdory57
Summary: Two months have passed sense the heroes were in Gotham, but an unexpected visit from Bruce Wayne turns their world upside down again. Will they ever get to go back to their normal lives? What is Lois going to get into now? Scarecrow's back to cause destruction and mayhem this time he's bringing the game to Metropolis. Third part of the Misadventures of Lois Lane series.
1. The problem

Scarecrow's Return

"Would you drop it already, Luthor!" Oliver snapped into the phone. "I've told you already, I'm not interested in handing over anything to you… No. I will NOT allow you to assist on that dig…Because it is under control… No, that research is none of your business and offering more money isn't going to change my mind… For the last time, Luthor, stay out of my business!"

Frustrated, Oliver slammed the phone into the receiver and leaned back in his chair.

"He can be very irritating, can't he?" someone asked.

Oliver shot upright, nearly tipping his chair over. Bruce Wayne was leaning against the door, smirking.

"How did you get up here?" Oliver asked, steadying himself with the desk.

"Your receptionist let me up," Bruce answered with a shrug, moving forward toward the desk.

"I'm going to need to have a talk with Tiffany," Oliver muttered. "So what brings you to Metropolis?"

"Business," Bruce said.

"What kind of business?" Oliver asked suspiciously.

"Why don't we wait until we can be somewhere a little more private before we discuss anything," Bruce said. "How about you and Chloe join me for dinner tonight?"

"Aren't we in private now?" Oliver said. "A restaurant is going to be a little more crowded than my office."

"I was thinking somewhere more secure," Bruce said. "At least for our business discussion. We can worry about dinner afterward."

Oliver studied Bruce for a moment, not sure what to think about his sudden visit.

"So we'll meet at 7?" Bruce asked, standing up and moving to the door.

"That'll work fine," Oliver said.

And then Bruce was gone, leaving a rather stunned Oliver sitting at his desk. After a moment, Oliver pulled out his cell phone and dialed.

_"Hey, Oliver," _Chloe answered after a few rings.

"Hey, Chloe," Oliver said. "We have dinner plans for tonight."

_"We do? Where?"_

"Well," he said slowly. "It's more about who we're having dinner with. You'll never guess who stopped by my office just a little while ago."

_"Who?" _Chloe asked, exasperated. _"You know I can't read your mind, so will you just spit it out."_

"Bruce Wayne," he said. "He needs to talk to us."

_"Bruce?" _Chloe exclaimed. _"What about?"_

"He wouldn't say. Said he'd explain at dinner."

_"Ok. So where are we meeting?"_

"Well, Bruce wants to meet around 7, so I'll pick you up at Watchtower just before then."

_"And where are we meeting him?" _Chloe asked.

"Oh… Umm… Well, he never actually said where…"

_"Oliver!"_

Later that evening Oliver parked outside of Watchtower and climbed out of his car. Chloe was waiting outside, having just arrived.

"Any word from Bruce," she asked. "I tried calling him, but no luck."

"No," Oliver said, shaking his head. "Not a word."

Chloe sighed and turned to the door.

"Well, let's head inside then," she said. "I'm sure he'll call when we don't show up."

They headed inside and into the elevator.

"Oliver," Chloe said. "In the future, please refrain from making dinner dates unless you get all pertinent information first."

"Sorry, Chloe," he said. "But I was a little distracted by the fact that he was here at all."

"Still," she said. "He wouldn't ask to meet with us if it wasn't important, and now we may miss the meeting."

The elevator doors opened and they stepped out into Watchtower. Both Chloe and Oliver stopped and stared in surprise.

"Umm… I don't think we need to worry about a phone call," Oliver said.

Bruce was standing by one of the computers on the upper floor, looking at the screen. When the elevator doors opened, he turned to see who had come in.

"I was beginning to think you weren't coming," he said, stepping away from the computer.

Chloe and Oliver, still in shock, joined Bruce.

"How—When—I was only gone for twenty minutes!" Chloe exclaimed. "And how did you get in here without setting off any of my alarms?"

"You're security has improved," Bruce said, "but I still found at least six ways to get in."

"Great," Chloe said. "And here I thought I'd finally gotten my security up to date. Is there any possible way to keep you, and others, from sneaking in here when I'm not looking? And you didn't hack my computer again, did you?"

"There's always a way in," Bruce said. "And no, I didn't."

Chloe sighed, setting down her purse and taking off her jacket. She took a seat at the computer and started looking through the system, trying to figure out how Bruce had gotten in past the security alarms.

"So what did you need to talk to us about," Chloe asked as she searched.

"Scarecrow is back," Bruce answered.

Chloe stopped typing and turned around. She exchanged looks with Oliver, and then turned to face Bruce.

"Where do you need us and when?" Oliver asked. "We can be in Gotham as soon as possible."

"Not Gotham," Bruce said sharply, glaring at Oliver.

"Then where?" Chloe asked in confusion. "Where did he go?"

"He's here," Bruce answered. "In Metropolis."

Chloe paled visibly as Bruce spoke, realizing the implications of what he was saying. Oliver stared, not sure how to react.

"He's here in Metropolis?" Chloe finally managed to choke out.

"Yes," Bruce told her. "I've been tracking his movement for the last two months. He's getting ready to make his move. His chemicals and his men are already in the city, which means he's here somewhere, too."

Chloe leaned back in the chair and took a deep breath to steady herself.

"What do we do?" she asked. "We aren't equipped to handle Scarecrow."

"I know," Bruce said grimly.

Chloe stood up and started pacing in front of the window.

"Did you bring any of the antidote with you?" she asked Bruce, glancing at him briefly as she paced. "We can get some to Emil and maybe he can try synthesizing more. I mean it isn't ideal and he won't have a lot of time to make it, but it'll be better than nothing…"

Chloe continued talking to herself about different options while Bruce and Oliver just watched.

"Is she always like this?" Bruce asked Oliver.

"Depends on the day," Oliver said with a shrug.

"Chloe," Bruce said, interrupting her muttering. "Did you ever think that there was a reason Bruce Wayne came to Metropolis instead of just Batman?"

"What?" she said, pausing. "Well, actually, I didn't think about that…"

"I came here to make a donation of some brand new medical equipment to the hospital," Bruce said. "Along with all of the chemicals necessary to synthesize the antidote."

"Oh," Chloe said in surprise. "So do they know to start making it?"

"No," Bruce said. "But they will. They have all the instructions they need."

"Then what do we do?" Oliver asked.

"We wait," Bruce said. "And once he moves, we act."

"I guess there isn't much more we can do," Chloe said. "We don't know how Scarecrow operates."

"That's why I'm here," said Bruce.

Chloe took another deep breath and then picked her coat and purse back up.

"Ok. Ok. We can do this," she said. "Why don't we go to dinner? We can let the others know later. I'll call a meeting for tomorrow."

"You don't need to worry about dinner, Chloe," Bruce said. "I brought it with me, and everything should be ready by now."

"Indeed it is, Master Bruce," a new voice said behind Chloe and Oliver.

They both jumped and turned around. An elderly man in a suit was standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at them.

"Thank you, Alfred," Bruce said. "Why don't we all sit down?"

Chloe and Oliver looked down at the table, surprised to find a full meal laid out. None of it had been there when they walked in.

"How did you get all of this in here?" Chloe asked in surprise. "You I expect, but all of this?"

"Once I was in it was easy enough to disable the alarms and let Alfred in with dinner," Bruce said, walking down the stairs.

Oliver and Chloe looked at each other and shrugged before following Bruce. They had just made it to the top of the stairs when something hit Oliver in the back, grabbing his shoulders. Instinctively he grabbed what hit him, turning and throwing whatever it was in the other direction.

"Wow, you're slow," Dick said, laughing as he flipped through the air and landed on his feet. "I could have drugged or disabled you in like ten different ways before you ever touched me."

"Would you stop doing that!" Oliver exclaimed, glaring at the boy.

"Dick," Bruce called from the bottom of the stairs, "come sit down and eat."

"Coming!" Dick called.

He ran over to the railing, hopped up and leapt from the balcony. He flipped and rolled, landing in a crouch and running to join Alfred and Bruce.

"Does he know how to use stairs?" Oliver asked as he and Chloe walked down the stairs to the table.

Chloe was trying not to laugh.

"We are working on that," Alfred answered, glancing at Dick. "But thus far, all attempts have been futile."

The group sat down at the table and Alfred started serving dinner. Once everyone had food, they started eating while Bruce and Oliver started talking business. Oliver was explaining what Lex had called him about earlier.

"He wanted to take over a dig my company's researching out in the deserts of California," Oliver said, his mouth full of food.

Alfred gave Oliver a look as he passed by. Chloe saw it and elbowed Oliver, making him cough and choke. He swallowed his food before he started talking again.

"What's so important about the dig?" Bruce asked.

"Well, not a whole lot right now," Oliver said. "Because we aren't sure what's there. But something crash landed in the area several years ago. And after all of the things we've found to be alien before, I want to make sure I know what we're dealing with before I let anyone else in on it. Especially if it's Kryptonian."

"Well, that would explain why Luthor is interested in it," Bruce said. "He's rather obsessed with Clark, isn't he?"

"Unfortunately," Chloe answered, joining the conversation. "And it is a distinctly unhealthy obsession that keeps endangering both of their lives, not to mention the general populations of Smallville and Metropolis."

"Yeah," Oliver said. "I'm going to be keeping an eye on him. If the dig has caught his attention, then it is definitely worth fighting to keep it away from him."

"Hey Chloe?" Dick interrupted. "What's this?"

He had been staring into his lap for the past few minutes and now he was holding up his handheld computer, the screen facing Chloe. She stared at it for a moment in surprise.

"That's—That's my alien encryption!" Chloe exclaimed. "How did you get to that?"

"Well, we were here for almost twenty minutes by ourselves," Dick answered, looking at the screen again. "I had to do something to entertain myself. I just couldn't figure out what this was. It's so cool!"

"Master Richard," Alfred said disapprovingly, "no computers at the dinner table."

"Yes, Alfred," Dick said, putting the computer away in his pocket.

"It was you who hacked me the last time, wasn't it?" Chloe asked.

"Duh," Dick said with a grin. "Bruce only hacks if he needs to. I do it for fun. I guess the last time was a little of both, but Bruce was distracting you from seeing me."

"I need to call Tech again," Chloe muttered.

After dinner, they cleaned up and Bruce, Dick, and Alfred got ready to leave for their hotel. Dick was still trying to crack the alien encryption as he perched on a chair. Bruce paused as they headed into the elevator.

"Call everyone else," he said. "We'll meet here tomorrow at midnight."

"Midnight?" Oliver said. "Oh great. No one's gonna like that."

"Don't worry," Chloe said hastily when Bruce turned to glare at Oliver. "We'll all be here."

Bruce nodded and walked into the elevator.

"Time to go, Dick," he called.

Dick hopped off of the chair and went running to join the two men in the elevator. The doors closed on him waving and grinning. Looking around at the empty room, Chloe sighed.

"It's going to be a long week," she said. "I just know it."

"Hey," Oliver said. "Just be glad Clark wasn't here for dinner. He would have been all over Bruce about Dick being here."

"Well, he's going to have to deal with it right now," Chloe said. "We aren't going to get through this without Bruce's help."

"I know," Oliver said grimly. "I've seen what happens when someone like Clark gets dosed with that stuff. We can't let it happen again, or he may actually kill someone this time."

Chloe walked up the stairs and grabbed her coat and purse before going back to Oliver.

"And that's all something to worry about tomorrow," she said. "Right now it's time to get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a late night."

Turning off the lights, they hopped in the elevator and headed out.


	2. The Meeting

_Disclaimer: We own NOTHING! no really not one thing._

"For the thousandth time, Bart," Chloe snapped. "I'm not telling you anything until everyone is here."

Bart was darting around Watchtower, driving Chloe insane with his constant badgering about why they were there. Everyone else was down at the table, patiently waiting for their last member to show up.

"Fine," Bart said, sitting back down in his chair and grumbling. "I just wanted to know what he's doing here."

He glanced over in the corner again, where Batman was standing and scowling at the group. Some of them were yawning, not used to starting their patrolling this late.

"Patience, Bart," she said. "Clark will be here any minute. He had a few things to wrap up downtown and then he was taking Lois home. Once he drops her off he'll be here."

Clark zoomed in as Chloe finished talking. He immediately took a seat at the table.

"Sorry I'm late," he said. "I couldn't get rid of Lois. So what are we all doing here?"

"Waiting for you," Bart grumbled.

"No," Chloe said, glaring at Bart. "We're here because there's something we all need to know about."

"What is it?" Dinah asked. "I'm assuming it has something to do with Batman, since he's here."

"Yes," Chloe said, and then she took a deep breath before continuing. "Scarecrow is in Metropolis."

The room was silent for a moment while the group stared at Chloe in shock.

"What do you mean?" Victor finally said.

"Just what she said," Oliver answered. "Scarecrow has followed us to Metropolis. And we don't have long before he moves."

"So what do we do?" Dinah asked. "We don't have the antidote here."

"Actually, we do," Chloe said. "Bruce Wayne was kind enough to donate the necessary equipment and chemicals to the hospital. But that's not the issue right now."

"Then what is?" AC asked. "Because I think the antidote is definitely an issue."

"We need to minimize the damage he does," Chloe answered. "We may not be able to keep him from using it, but we can at least contain the damage it does."

"Why not just go get him now?" Clark asked. "Bart and I could search the whole city in less than a minute. Once we find him, all we have to do is grab him and the whole thing is over."

"Are you stupid?" Batman growled, finally saying something. "Do you really think that's going to work?"

"Why wouldn't it?" Clark asked. "We stop him before he becomes a problem."

"He's already a problem," Batman said. "Scarecrow isn't in Metropolis on a whim. He has a plan, and that plan includes contingencies for dealing with you and your superspeed."

"Remember, Clark," Chloe said. "Scarecrow has seen you use many of your abilities. And we can't risk you getting gassed again. We simply aren't equipped to handle him."

"So we need a babysitter?" Clark said angrily. "We've been in tough situations before and we've always found a solution. This isn't Gotham. It's Metropolis. We can handle it."

"Fine," Batman snarled. "If you want me to leave, I'll go. Don't come crying to me when your city is in ruins."

He turned to leave and Chloe leapt in the way.

"Please don't go," she said. "We do need you. Even if certain people won't admit it. Please?"

Batman didn't answer, but he stopped moving toward the exit.

"And you," Chloe snapped, rounding on Clark. "Sit down and shut up. Get off your high horse and listen. We CANNOT handle Scarecrow on our own."

"Chloe—" Clark started to protest.

"Scarecrow is not like anyone we've faced here in Metropolis," she interrupted. "He has no goal, no end game to his plan. I've been researching Scarecrow and the other major villains in Gotham. His only motivation is creating as much chaos as possible. We can fight against someone who is logical, who makes sense. He has no logic. He doesn't make sense, not to us."

The room was silent for a moment. Clark stared at Chloe for a moment, then sat down.

"So what now?" Oliver asked quietly. "What's our first move?"

Batman ignored Oliver and moved away from the group.

"Robin, report," he said into his communicator.

_"I've found Scarecrow's men," _came the reply. _"They were down at the docks like you said they'd be. They're unloading some crates right now. Want me to follow them?"_

"Follow," Batman said. "But do not engage. Report back if you find Scarecrow. I'll be right there."

Everyone was looking expectantly at Batman when he came back. Except Clark. Clark was staring darkly at Batman.

"You've got some nerve lecturing us," he said. "You have a child out on his own, looking for a criminal you're trying to keep adults away from. He shouldn't be here."

"Drop it, Clark," Chloe snapped before Batman could answer. "This is not the time or place for that discussion."

Clark grumbled, but he stopped arguing.

"Let's go, Robin Hood," Batman said to Oliver, jerking his head toward the exit.

"Go where?" Oliver asked through clenched teeth. "And you can quit with the Robin Hood thing at anytime."

"Fine, Peter Pan," Batman responded. "Let's go."

Without waiting for an answer, Batman disappeared. Everyone else in the room burst out laughing as Oliver scrambled to follow.

"I'll take Robin Hood," Oliver yelled desperately as he pulled up his hood and put his glasses on, chasing Batman out of the door.


	3. Lois finds out!

Lois grumbled to herself, pulling her coat closer as she sat in her dark car.

"Stupid Lex Luthor," she muttered. "First he cancels the interview, now he's sent me on a wild goose chase. There's no story out here."

She'd been sitting out there for hours and no one had come in or out of the building down at the end of the street. Sighing, Lois reached over to start her car. Movement on the street caused her to freeze. A couple of trucks were pulling up in front of the building she'd been watching all night. She ducked down further in her seat as several men climbed out and started unloading some unmarked crates and carrying them inside. While they were inside, Lois quickly climbed out of her car and started sneaking in for a closer look. She was crouching behind another car watching when someone dropped down in front of her. Lois scrambled backward, choking back a scream.

"What are you doing here?" the boy in front of her asked. "You really shouldn't be here."

"Who are you?" Lois asked nervously. "And what's with the costume?"

"Duh," he answered. "I'm Robin. Batman's partner?"

"Batman has a kid for a sidekick?" Lois said.

"Partner!" Robin said. "You were out of it the last time we met. You know, Gotham, two months ago?"

"Oh," said Lois. "Right."

"Anyways, I've got to get back on patrol," Robin said, cocking his head like he was listening to something. "But you should really get out of here. This isn't a good place to be right now."

He darted off, disappearing into the shadows around them. Lois sat there for a minute, trying to decide what to do.

"What does a kid know?" she muttered to herself. "He should be at home in his bed, not out wandering the streets. Besides, if Batman's letting him be here, it can't be that bad. I'm going to take a closer look."

The men had finished unloading the trucks. Two of them had taken the trucks and driven them off while the rest had gone inside. Moving closer to the door, Lois looked around to make sure no one was watching, and then she slipped inside.

Robin was watching from atop a nearby building and saw Lois slip inside. He groaned.

"Batman?" he said.

_"What is it?" _Batman answered.

"We may have a slight problem. The reporter lady just went inside Scarecrow's hideout… I tried warning her, but apparently she's not listening."

_"Stay put," _Batman growled. _"I'll be right there."_

Robin sighed, but he didn't argue. He continued on his patrol around the area, trying to catch a glimpse of Scarecrow to confirm that he was present.

Lois stood off to the side inside the dark entryway, letting her eyes adjust to the dim lighting. There was no one in the immediate vicinity that she could see. After a minute or two she decided it was safe to move forward because no one had appeared in the hallway. She started to move further into the building, keeping close to the walls. As she paused to peer around a corner, a heavy hand fell on her shoulder and yanked her around. Lois let out a yelp, which was promptly smothered by a hand.

"What do you think you're doing?" Batman growled, moving his hand.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "Are you and your kid partner trying to scare me to death?"

"Get out of here," he ordered. "Or you're going to get yourself killed."

"If the kid can handle it, so can I," Lois said defiantly, stepping away from Batman.

He studied her for a moment, and then stepped back himself.

"Fine," he said finally. "If you think you can handle Scarecrow, go right on ahead."

Lois paled, looking in the direction she had been heading.

"Scarecrow?" she whispered shakily, turning back around. "What's he doing in Metropolis?"

Batman didn't answer. He was gone. Lois stood in the hallway for a moment, looking around. Deciding that she didn't want a repeat of the last time, Lois got out of the building as quickly as she could. Back in her car, she took a deep breath and drove for home.

"Any luck?" Green Arrow asked when Batman appeared out of the shadows. "Any sign of Scarecrow?"

"Not yet," Batman answered.

"So what do we do then?" said Green Arrow.

"We wait," Batman said, scowling at the archer as he crouched down, watching the building.

The next morning Lois marched into the Daily Planet and slammed a cup of coffee down on Clark's desk. He looked up in surprise.

"Umm… Good morning, Lois," he said. "Is there something you want to say?"

"What is Scarecrow doing in Metropolis?" she hissed so only he could hear.

Clark looked even more shocked.

"How did you find out?" he asked quietly.

"That's not important right now," she answered. "I want to know why you didn't tell me. I could've been killed last night!"

"What?" Clark exclaimed. "What did you do?"

"I got a lead and it took me straight to Scarecrow's lair," she said. "If Batman hadn't stepped in I probably would have walked straight into his clutches."

"Where did the lead come from, Lois?" Clark asked.

"It doesn't matter," she said, trying to blow it off. "Are you going to answer my question?"

"We're dealing with Scarecrow," he said. "Now where did you get the lead?"

"Lex Luthor," she muttered. "I was supposed to be interviewing him about his recent attempts to move some of his business overseas. He called me to cancel and let something slip about something happening in one of his old research labs. He was supposed to be dealing with that, which is why he couldn't meet me."

"Lois," Clark groaned. "You can't trust anything Lex says."

"And you need to stop leaving me out of things," she retorted.

"If I had told you about Scarecrow, would that have kept you at home?" he asked.

"Well, probably not," she said slowly. "But I wouldn't have tried to sneak into his hideout!"

"Look, Lois," Clark said. "If you really want to stay in the loop on this, join Chloe in Watchtower tonight. We're all going to be out patrolling the city. And that way I'll know you're safe."

"Fine," Lois grumbled. "But I get first dibs on any stories."


	4. Splitting up

_Hey guy let us know what you think so far always looking for tips and ideas! _

_Disclaimer: WE DON'T OWN! :)_

When the last of the heroes showed up at Watchtower that night, Chloe was sitting at the table, bent over a map of the city and Batman was standing behind her. Lois was sitting in another chair, staring off into space, while the heroes were waiting around the room for instructions.

"Is there anywhere else you think he's likely to hit?" Chloe asked Batman. "I think we've got most of the areas covered."

Batman didn't answer, so Chloe straightened up from the map and looked around.

"Oh, good," she said. "Everyone's here now."

"What's the plan?" Aquaman asked. "Are we making a move on Scarecrow?"

"Not exactly," Chloe said, shaking her head. "We still haven't actually seen Scarecrow, just his men. So the plan is to divide up into pairs and patrol different areas of the city. If anyone sees Scarecrow, report back before making a move."

"No one faces him alone," Green Arrow added. "We are all dangerous opponents when we need to be, and if one of us is dosed with the gas we could hurt someone."

"So we wait instead of stopping him?" Clark said, frustrated. "That's not how we work."

"Don't worry, Clark," Chloe said. "It won't be a long wait. We just want to make sure we keep damages to a minimum."

Clark grumbled, but backed down again. With everyone backing up Chloe, he didn't really have any room to argue. Chloe started assigning positions in the city.

"Bart and AC, you'll head down near the docks where Scarecrow's men unloaded the crates. Dinah and Victor, take uptown and the residential areas. Clark and Oliver, you'll be downtown—"

A clanking sound interrupted Chloe, followed by a crash as Bart, who had gotten up to go to the fridge again, went sprawling on the ground. Everyone whipped around to see what had happened. Bart was tangled up in a thin rope and Robin was flipping through the air down toward Clark. He landed on Clark's back, swinging himself around and to the ground, finally landing in a crouch near Batman.

"Wow," he said. "That was like hitting a brick wall. No wonder they call you the man of steel."

"How do you know what hitting a brick wall feels like?" AC asked, looking at Robin.

"He's probably hit them before," Oliver said.

"Yep," Robin said with a grin, moving over to where Bart was still trying to free himself.

Robin picked up a small gun from the ground near the tangled-up speedster.

"Aww… You broke my grappling gun," he said, glaring at Bart. "And I don't have my spare one."

"Robin," Batman said sharply. "We never leave home without full supplies."

"I know," Robin sighed.

"I'll deal with you later," Batman said as Robin joined him.

Robin didn't answer, he just stared down at the ground. Clark started to say something, but Chloe interrupted him.

"Like I was saying," she said, glaring at Clark, "Clark and Oliver will be downtown, where most of the nightlife in town will be at. Batman will be returning to the area around the abandoned research facility Lex sent Lois to last night. Everyone on the same page?"

Everyone except Clark nodded.

"He can't go alone," Clark said. "You said none of us were working alone."

"I'm not alone," Batman growled, moving to the window. "Robin, let's go."

Batman pulled out his grappling gun as Robin hopped on his back. Before they disappeared out the window, Robin whipped around and stuck his tongue out at Clark. He just stared after them for a moment, then started to follow.

"No, Clark," Chloe said, stepping in his way. "Focus on your assignment. Go with Oliver and patrol downtown. Batman will take care of Robin."

"Chloe—"

"Clark," she snapped. "We don't have time for this right now. Go with Oliver. We can discuss this later."

Clark started to say something else, and then decided against it. The heroes started leaving in pairs, Oliver and Clark going last. When Chloe was alone with Lois, she let out a sigh of relief before moving to her computer.


	5. Scarecrow

When they reached downtown, Clark and Green Arrow split up to cover more ground. If Scarecrow was nearby, they wanted to find him before he could release mass quantities of his gas. It was a cool night, so there weren't huge crowds of people out and about, but there were still people walking the streets of downtown. Clark covered his half of the city at superspeed. He wanted to go check and make sure Batman wasn't putting Robin in danger.

_"How's downtown?"_ Chloe's voice crackled over the radio. _"The others have no sign of Scarecrow yet, but they're still searching through their areas. Patrol will continue until someone finds him."_

_ "We're still looking, too, Watchtower," _Green Arrow answered. _"If we see any signs of him, we'll let you know right away."_

_ "Alright. Keep in touch."_

Running through his half again and finding nothing, Clark decided to go check on some of the others. Starting with Batman and Robin.

"Patrol the perimeter," Batman said to Robin as they approached the research lab.

"On it," Robin answered, taking off.

Batman moved in closer. No lights were visible in the building and no one was moving in the area. Using his grappling gun, Batman moved to the top of the building and slipped in an upstairs window. Moving silently, he began searching the building. No one was there. After a few minutes of searching, he found the empty lab. There were signs of someone having worked in there, but they were gone now. The crates from the ship were stacked in one corner and empty chemical bottles were piled in them.

"Lab's empty, Watchtower," he said shortly. "I'm moving to the next area."

_"No sign of him anywhere else, either," _Chloe said. _"I'll let the others know to keep searching. He has to be here somewhere."_

Batman didn't answer, but he finished searching the building for any sign of where they had gone. When he found nothing, he headed outside. Clark was standing outside, looking up at the building.

"What are you doing here?" Batman growled at Clark.

"I finished searching and came to check on you and Robin," Clark said, standing his ground.

"Robin," Batman said, turning and striding away from Clark. "Move downtown. The Boyscout has abandoned his area. I'll be there shortly."

_"On my way," _Robin answered.

Without saying another word to Clark, Batman took off into the city. Clark stared for a moment, and then took off after him, trying to keep up. But Batman kept losing Clark in the shadows, even with Clark's x-ray ability. So Clark trailed in the direction of downtown, wanting to have a talk with Batman about having Robin out on his own. He finally caught Batman crouched on a ledge on the edge of the downtown district.

"We need to talk—" Clark started to say, but then Batman's communicator crackled to life.

_"Batman!" _Robin yelled frantically. _"We have a problem! Shoot! I don't have my grap—"_

The communication cut off and Batman immediately took off, glancing down at a small computer on his wrist. Clark followed again.

"Green Arrow," he said. "Get down here. Batman and I are heading after Robin. Something has happened to him."

_"I'm on my way," _Green Arrow answered. _"Where are you?"_

"Heading north past the theater," Clark answered. "Hurry!"

Keeping up with Batman had become even more difficult. Clark lost him, but kept heading in the same direction, listening closely for his movements. He finally caught the sound of Batman's grappling gun firing and raced off toward the sound. When he arrived, Green Arrow was already there, since he had been close to the area, and crouching on a nearby rooftop. Batman was nowhere to be seen. Clark joined Green Arrow. Across the street on a small, two-story building Scarecrow and his men were waiting. One of the thugs was holding Robin in front of him.

"What do we do now?" Green Arrow said. "And does Robin look bored to you?"

"We need to get him out of there," Clark said. "He's probably scared they're going to kill him!"

"Well, where's Batman?" said Green Arrow. "And we need to tell Chloe we found Scarecrow."

"I don't know," Clark said. "He took off and I lost him."

"Alright then. Here's what we'll do," Green Arrow said. "I'll sneak over there and try to get closer to Robin while you check in with Chloe and tell her to get the others over here as soon as possible. Make sure Impulse doesn't come running in and trip us up though. Once you've relayed everything to Chloe, cause a small distraction so I can grab Robin."

"Fine," Clark said, agreeing. "But move quickly. We don't know how long we have."

Oliver dropped down to the street and, darting through the people on the street, moved across to the alley underneath Scarecrow and his men. Clark kept an eye on them while he radioed Chloe.

"Watchtower," he said. "We found Scarecrow. He has Robin. Send backup immediately to our location."

_"I've got you, Boyscout," _Chloe answered. _"Sending backup to your location. Don't move til they get there."_

Clark didn't answer. He was already speeding across the street and up to the rooftop. Clark stopped right in front of Scarecrow and his men. One of the men standing next to him was holding Robin by the arm. Robin's hands were tied behind his back. There were several more on the other side of the roof, standing over something Clark couldn't quite see.

"Let him go, Scarecrow," Clark demanded.

"But I can't let him go," Scarecrow answered. "We don't have all of the players here yet. My experiment isn't ready."

"I don't care about your experiment," Clark said. "Let the boy go."

"Oh, you were talking about the bird boy?" Scarecrow said. "I was talking about your friend in green."

Clark turned his head to see Green Arrow struggling to get away from several of Scarecrow's larger thugs. One of the men pulled out a gun and pressed it against the archer's head. Green Arrow froze. The man holding Robin took a step to the side a picked up Robin to dangle him out over the street.

"Let me go!" Robin yelled, wiggling in the man's grasp. "Let go of me now!"

"It'll be ok, Robin," Clark said, glancing back and forth between him and Green Arrow. "Everything's going to be ok."

Robin just rolled his eyes and groaned, still struggling to get out of the man's grasp.

"So which one do you save?" Scarecrow said. "I've been studying you, and you aren't fast enough to save both of them."

Clark didn't move. If he ran to grab the gun, Robin would die falling to the street. But if he grabbed Robin first, Green Arrow would die before he could get there. He visibly struggled with the decision as Scarecrow laughed.

"You make it so easy for me," Scarecrow said. "I'll have free reign in this city, to run my experiments as I want to. My choice of subjects and locations. No one to stop me."

"You'll have to rethink that plan, Scarecrow," Batman snarled behind him.

They turned to see Batman standing over Scarecrow's men, Green Arrow beside him. The gun was nowhere in sight. The men were all tied up and unconscious. Distracted by Scarecrow, Clark hadn't noticed anything happening. The man holding Robin saw Batman standing there and panicked. He dropped Robin on the roof and took off running, only to be caught and knocked out by Green Arrow.

"Batman," Scarecrow said. "You've come to save your bird boy?"

"I'm here for you," Batman growled.

Scarecrow pulled something out of his pocket and threw it at Batman. The small, round object exploded in midair, but Batman and Green Arrow had already moved out of the way. The explosion left behind a lingering gas on the other side of the roof, surrounding the men who were still laying there.

"Get those men out of here!" Green Arrow yelled at Clark as Batman engaged Scarecrow.

Taking a deep breath, Clark sped through the gas and scooped up the men without breathing anything in. He leapt down to the street with them in hand, depositing them in a pile in the alley. A few of them had breathed in some of the gas, so after making sure they were tied securely, he radioed Chloe.

"Watchtower, we're going to need some of the antidote as quickly as possible," he said, turning to glance up at the roof.

On the roof top, Batman was fighting with Scarecrow while Green Arrow finished up with the remaining thugs. Robin was dodging out of the way, trying to untie his own hands.

"They tied these really tight," he muttered, and then turned to yell at Green Arrow. "Would you stop pushing them my way? I'm trying to untie a knot I can't see!"

Another man nearly landed on top of him and Robin ducked out of the way.

"Not helping!" he yelled again.

"Robin!" Batman snapped suddenly.

Robin whipped around to see another gas grenade flying straight at him.

"Woah!" he exclaimed.

He immediately flipped backward, hands still tied, as the grenade exploded, going straight off of the roof.

_"It's on the way, Boyscout," _Chloe told Clark. _"I'm sending Impulse after it."_

Clark heard Batman yell Robin's name up on the roof and whipped around.

"Woah!" he heard Robin exclaim as a small explosion went off, and then the boy was falling off the roof, his hand still tied behind his back.

Without pausing to think, Clark leapt up to catch Robin as he spun through the air tucked into a small ball. Robin grunted as Clark caught him. He slipped out of the ball he had been in, his head bouncing off of Clark's chest while his limbs got tangled up against Clark's side. Clark landed back in the alley, lowering Robin to the ground. He snapped the ropes and Robin groaned, trying to sit up.

Batman came in from the side as Scarecrow threw the grenade at Robin. His punch caught Scarecrow in the jaw and he went flying. Landing in a heap on the ground, he didn't move when Batman tied him up. Green Arrow was just finishing tying up the last of the thugs.

"Robin, report," Batman said, making sure Scarecrow was going to stay unconscious for a while.

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"Robin," Batman snapped. "Report."

There was still no answer, so Batman thrust Scarecrow at Oliver and leapt off the roof in the direction Robin had gone.

Clark looked up from checking on Robin to see Batman leaping off the roof. He hopped up, ready to catch him when Batman went into a controlled roll and landed right in front of him.

"Don't worry," Clark said as Batman rushed over to Robin. "I caught him before he hit the ground."

Batman turned his head and glared at Clark, letting out a growl. Not saying a word, he went back to checking on Robin.

"Batman?" Robin said, "Everything's spinning…"

"Hold still," Batman snapped.

Batman kept checking to make sure nothing was broken.

"Ah," Robin groaned when Batman touched his left shoulder.

"What happened?" Green Arrow exclaimed, joining them.

He had lowered Scarecrow's remaining thugs off the roof, followed by himself and Scarecrow. Still dragging the unconscious villain behind him, he moved to see what was going on.

"We should get him back to Watchtower," he said to Batman, hearing Robin groan in pain again. "We've got medical equipment there. We can check to make sure everything's ok."

"You've done enough," Batman snarled, scooping Robin up.

He turned around a disappeared down the alley, leaving Clark and Green Arrow standing there.

"What happened?" Green Arrow asked again, looking at Clark.

"Robin fell," he said, still surprised by Batman's reaction. "All I did was catch him."

Green Arrow stared at him for a moment.

"Are you stupid?" he said.

Without waiting for an answer, Green Arrow strode away to wait for the others to show up.


	6. The Kids

"Ok," Oliver said, looking around the car. "I know why I'm here. And why Chloe's here. Why are the rest of you coming again?"

The entire group was in Oliver's limousine on the way into Gotham. Oliver had a meeting with Bruce, so he and Chloe had been invited out to Wayne Manor for lunch and a more casual atmosphere. Clark had heard about the trip and insisted on joining them. When that met to leave Metropolis, Oliver had been surprised to see the rest of the JLA waiting with Clark.

"Because Clark has it stuck in his head that Dick needs to be removed from Bruce's care," Chloe said, glaring at Clark.

"Well, I happen to agree with Clark," Dinah said. "He's just a child. Bruce shouldn't be exposing him to such danger. He could have been killed when he fell off of that roof a few weeks ago."

"Oh for goodness sakes," said Chloe. "He was fine. It was Clark's fault he got hurt."

"Dick would have been just fine on his own," Oliver added. "He knows what he's doing."

"He's eight," AC said. "How can he possibly understand what he's getting into?"

"He's been doing this for a while now," Oliver said. "It's pretty obvious. And he's clearly been trained as a gymnast, which means he knows how to take falls. So he was fine until Clark got in the way.

"And what about the girls?" Dinah protested. "Having one out there with him is bad enough, but what about them? They should all be at home, right Bart?"

"Don't look at me," Bart said. "I'm just here cause Clark made me come. I don't want to make Ba—Bruce mad at me again."

"Bruce seems to have things under control," Victor said, joining the conversation. "Why don't we let him make the call? They are under his care after all."

The limo was pulling into the driveway of the manor.

"Because," Clark said, "there is never a good reason to let children do the things they've been doing. He's endangering their lives every time they go out, and that's not ok with me."

"Alright Clark," Chloe said. "Drop it. We're here. Can we try and have a nice time?"

The limo pulled to a stop outside and everyone climbed out. Oliver and Chloe took the lead, heading up the stairs while everyone else trailed behind them. Before Oliver could ring the bell, the door opened.

"Welcome," Alfred said, glancing around at the large group. "Master Bruce is expecting you. Follow me."

The followed him through the manor, looking at each other in confusion when he led them into a small study. No one else was in the room. But Alfred didn't tell them to have a seat, instead he walked over to a large grandfather clock that was standing against one wall. He opened the front of the clock, reached inside and pulled down on the chain, and then stepped back out of the way. The heroes stared as the clock moved upward, revealing a staircase. Alfred headed down the stairs and they followed him.

The staircase opened into a large cave. As Alfred walked on ahead of them, the group stood staring around them in wonder. They could see that part of the architecture of the house extended down into the cave, and that it had also been renovated with modern equipment.

"Master Bruce," they heard Alfred saying up ahead. "Your guests are here. All of them."

As they started to move forward toward the voices, Alfred came back and headed back up the stairs. Moving closer, they could hear Bruce calling out instructions amidst shrieks and laughter.

"Watch where you're going, Robin!" Bruce said

"Whoops!" Dick said, laughing.

"You're backing yourself into a corner again," Bruce called. "Move."

"Got it!"

"Better," said Bruce. "Tigress, watch your feet."

"Too late!" Dick yelled.

There was a crash and a thud like someone fell.

"I'm going to get you for that, bird-boy," one of the girls yelled.

"Come and get me, kitty cat," Dick responded, laughing.

The heroes came around a bend to see Bruce and the three kids chasing each other around on a sprawling jungle gym. They were all in costume, swinging and climbing on the various implements around them. Bruce's cowl was pulled back and Dick had left his mask somewhere, but both girls had their masks firmly in place. As the group approached, Tigress was swiftly climbing back to the top to chase after Dick, who was laughing as he flipped and leapt from place to place in the other direction.

"There they are!" Dick suddenly yelled, changing directions suddenly.

Batgirl, who had been about to drop down on him, missed her mark and went tumbling down toward the ground.

"Oops!" she said.

Clark jerked like he was going to run and catch her, but Oliver grabbed his arm. Batgirl caught a hold of a pole partway down and swung herself around and back up, landing on top of a horizontal bar. Dick dropped, grabbing a bar and swinging himself around it a few times before letting go and landing in front of the heroes.

"Hi!" he said with a smile as they all stared at him. "We were starting to think you weren't coming."

Bruce and the girls dropped down to the ground behind him. The girls joined Dick while Bruce headed over to the large computer on the wall.

"Training simulation shut down," Bruce said to the computer.

Equipment started disappearing into the walls and floors. Bruce stayed at the computer for a moment, studying a playback of the training session.

"Bruce," Clark said, "we need to talk about the kids. Now."

Bruce didn't turn around.

"Clark, please," Chloe said. "Leave it alone. He knows what he's doing."

"No, Chloe," Clark said. "Enough is enough. The streets are too dangerous for them. Bruce is going to get them killed."

Tigress and Batgirl exchanged looks, and then burst out laughing. Clark looked at them in surprise.

"Are you kidding?" Batgirl said. "Bruce is the only reason we're still alive."

"We were out there before we worked with Bruce," Tigress added. "He took us under his wing, training us and making sure we were prepared for what was out there."

"Besides," Batgirl added. "He never lets us anywhere near the real action, like Joker."

"They are telling the truth," Alfred said from behind them, having come back while they were distracted. "Master Bruce did not choose this for them. They all chose it for themselves."

Clark and the others turned to look at him.

"So they choose, right?" Clark said. "What does he do, go out looking for kids like those three and ask them if they want to join him?"

All three kids started laughing.

"We found him!" Batgirl exclaimed. "And he couldn't get rid of us if he tried."

"Yeah," Dick added. "Especially Bar—Batgirl. Believe me, he tried."

"Dick," Bruce said without turning away from the computer.

"I know," Dick said, sighing.

"That still doesn't excuse him from putting the kids in danger every night," Clark said. "Fine, the girls found him. But he should have said no. And adopting Dick and then taking him out into the streets, what was he thinking?"

"Umm… Bruce didn't take me," Dick said. "I found out and followed him. He couldn't keep me home after that."

"When Master Richard first came to live with us," Alfred said, glancing at Dick, "I was completely against him joining Master Bruce. However, after he found out and became Master Robin, I realized how good it is for both of them. Master Bruce allows Master Richard to join him so that Master Richard will not become like him."

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked.

"Master Bruce is out on the streets due to his history," Alfred said. "And he does not want another child to suffer same injustice he did, which is why he allows them to join him. Gotham does not work the way the rest of the world does, Miss Sullivan. Batman brings hope back to this dark city. He's teaching them to do the same thing, hoping that one day they can do so without the masks."

"And he can't do that without putting them in danger?"

Oliver groaned and Chloe rounded on Clark.

"Enough, Clark," she snapped. "Bruce knows what he's doing and so do the kids. They aren't in anymore danger than they would be just living their normal lives in this city. It isn't Metropolis. Alfred is right. This is a dark place, and whatever they can do to bring in some light is a good thing in my eyes. You need to get over yourself. I mean, look at how many times you've put other people in danger. Like Lana. Or Lois. Or me."

"And don't forget about all the times he puts himself in danger," Oliver added.

"Right," Chloe said. "And you're constantly putting yourself in danger! Insisting on being human or pushing yourself too hard or running into situations without knowing what's going on. You never listen to me!"

"And I can't count the number of times you've gone running into a lead lined room," Oliver said, starting to rant. "There is always kryptonite behind the door. Every time. And guess who has to come get you? That's right. Me. I have to come save you from yourself. Every time."

Everyone stared at Oliver for a moment.

"Oliver," Chloe said slowly. "Breathe."

"Sorry, Chloe," he said.

Shaking her head, Chloe turned around and continued to lecture Clark, ripping into him about how much of an idiot he was being. The kids just stared at them, not really sure what to do. Looking at each other, the two girls started whispering back and forth.

"They need help," Batgirl whispered to Tigress. "Some team building exercises or something."

"Yeah," Tigress said. "I mean, how long have they been a team? Shouldn't they be past these kind of issues already?"

"I don't know," Batgirl said with a shrug. "But we've only been together for what, a year? And look at how good we are."

"We don't ever have issues like that," Tigress said.

"I think if we did, Bruce would tie us up and leave us in the Batcave," Batgirl responded.

"True," said Tigress. "Maybe they should get their own Bruce."

"Well, they can't have ours," Batgirl said. "We don't share."

"Are you two staying for lunch?" Bruce asked from behind.

Both girls whipped around to face him, glancing back and forth between him and each other.

"Umm…My dad's making lasagna," Batgirl said, turning to Tigress. "Want to come with me?"

"Sure!" Tigress said.

Both girls took off toward the other side of the cave.

"Isn't the exit that way?" AC asked, looking back the way they had come in.

"One of them is," Dick answered. "There're at least six exits, and I'm pretty sure there are more that I haven't found. Bruce won't tell me. And Alfred knows too, but he won't tell me either…"

"Dick," Bruce said. "Let's go."

"Coming," said Dick.

The two of them disappeared into another part of the cave as Chloe wound down on her lecture of Clark.

"Ok, Chloe," he said. "I got the point. You can stop yelling at me now."

"Me yelling at you is going to be the least of your worries if any of this comes up ever again," she said, glaring at him.

Clark continued to apologize to her while they waited for Bruce and Dick to return.

"You know," Bart said to Victor, "it's kind of surprising that he didn't hear anything that was said. I mean, he didn't look up from the computer once."

"Uh, dude," Victor said. "He was listening the whole time."

"He was?" Bart said in surprise.

"Yes, I was," Bruce said behind him.

Bart yelped and whipped around, his eyes wide. Bruce ignored him, but Dick, who had been standing next to Bruce, fell over laughing. They were both dressed in normal clothes now so they could head up to lunch.

"Dick," Bruce said. "Time to eat."

Still laughing, Dick hopped up and followed Bruce and Alfred as they led the way back up into the manor.

"I didn't think the two of them would ever shut-up," Victor said as they walked out of the dining room.

Lunch was over and they were heading back down to the Batcave. While Oliver and Bruce had talked business over lunch, Dick and Bart had just talked. Constantly.

"I still don't know how they managed to eat their food," Victor continued. "Were they even stopping for air?"

"I'm not really sure," AC said.

"Hey!" Bart said. "I stopped to eat and breathe."

"At who's speed?" Dinah asked. "Yours or ours?"

"The point is I did pause," Bart mumbled, then he jerked out of the way as Dick came running through the door, pulling Oliver behind him.

"Come on! Hurry!" he was saying. "I want to show you something. You've got to try it!"

Oliver kept glancing behind him as he stumbled after Dick.

"Since when does the kid like me?" he called back to Chloe.

Chloe didn't answer, she just laughed and followed them back into the study, the rest of the group trailing behind. As everyone else headed down the stairs, Clark pulled Bruce aside.

"Bruce, I want to apologize for the things I've been saying," Clark said. "It seems I've misjudged a lot of things over the past few months. Including you."

Bruce studied Clark for a moment.

"You need to realize, Kent," Bruce said finally, "the world isn't always black and white."

Bruce turned away, heading down into the Batcave. Clark stood at the top of the stairs for a moment, and then followed him down. Down in the cave, they joined the rest of the group. Everyone was laughing. Bruce and Clark walked up to find Oliver lying on the floor under the training equipment, groaning. Dick was hanging upside down above him, laughing hysterically.

"You win," Oliver groaned, half sitting up. "I surrender."

Laughing harder, Dick flipped off of the bar he was hanging from and landed on Bruce's back.

"He needs help," Dick said, pointing at Oliver, who was still on the ground.

"They all do," Bruce answered.

Dick started laughing harder as they watched Clark pull Oliver to his feet.


End file.
